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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #205636
Title: Television viewing is associated with prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Hispanic elders

Author
item GAO, XIANG - HNRCA AT TUFTS
item NELSON, MIRIAM - FRIEDMAN SCHOOL AT TUFTS
item Tucker, Katherine

Submitted to: Diabetes Care
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/11/2006
Publication Date: 3/1/2007
Citation: Gao, X., Nelson, M.E., Tucker, K. 2007. Television viewing is associated with prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Hispanic elders. Diabetes Care. 30:694-700.

Interpretive Summary: The metabolic syndrome, a cluster of abnormalities including abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia and high blood pressure, is associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mortality. It affects up to 25% of adults and more than 40% of elders in the United States, with even higher prevalence shown in Mexican Americans, but little information is available for other Hispanic subgroups. Prolonged television viewing, a major sedentary behavior in the U.S., has been identified as a risk factor for diabetes and obesity, and has been associated with components of the metabolic syndrome. Recently, several studies showed positive associations between television viewing and the metabolic syndrome, however, most participants in these studies were non-Hispanic whites. We hypothesized that prolonged television viewing time would be associated with risk of the metabolic syndrome among a representative sample of 350 Puerto Rican and 105 Dominican elders living in Massachusetts. 50.1% of the Puerto Ricans and 56.9% of the Dominicans had metabolic syndrome. 82.6% of subjects had high blood pressure, and 61.4% had high fasting glucose. Prevalence of the syndrome was significantly associated with television viewing. Each additional hour of television viewing was associated with a 16% greater likelihood of having the metabolic syndrome, after adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, BMI, education, alcohol use, smoking, household arrangement, physical activity, intake of energy and fat, and activities-of-daily-living score. We did not observe significant interactions of television viewing with sex, smoking status, alcohol use, or BMI. We concluded that a high prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in this representative sample of Caribbean origin Hispanic elders was associated with prolonged television viewing, independent of physical activity and energy intake. Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the causality of this relationship.

Technical Abstract: Our objective of this study was to examine associations between television viewing and prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among a representative sample of Caribbean origin Hispanic elders living in Massachusetts. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis in 350 Puerto Rican and 105 Dominican elders (>/= 60 y). Information on television viewing hours was collected by a questionnaire. The metabolic syndrome was defined by using the definition from the National Cholesterol Education Program. Prevalences for the metabolic syndrome were 50.1%, and 56.9% among Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans, respectively. 82.6% of subjects had high blood pressure, and 61.4% had high fasting glucose. Prevalence of the syndrome was significantly associated with television viewing. Each additional hour of television viewing was associated with a 16% greater likelihood of having the metabolic syndrome (OR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.1-1.3, P for trend = 0.002), after adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, BMI, education, alcohol use, smoking, household arrangement, physical activity, intake of energy and fat, and activities-of-daily-living score. We did not observe significant interactions of television viewing with sex, smoking status, alcohol use, or BMI (P for interaction > 0.15 for all), in relation to presence of the metabolic syndrome. We concluded that a high prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in this representative sample of Caribbean origin Hispanic elders was associated with prolonged television viewing, independent of physical activity and energy intake. Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the causality of this relationship.